Making the Better Choice

Filed under: Motivation , Tipping the Scales Getty Images I had a beautiful aha moment the other day. In the midst of moving issues and emotional stress , I realized that sometimes being healthy doesn’t mean picking the vegetables over the potato chips. Of course, that is a great example of making a healthy choice. There are times when being healthy might mean actually paying attention instead of blindly making food choices. There are times when perhaps it isn’t about making the right choice but about making the better choice. Sometimes being healthy means making the best choice available to you at the time. Sometimes being healthy means eating out and choosing to keep your meal small or getting the value size instead of the mega or extra-large food mountain. I finally stopped making food choices based on my feelings and started making a conscious effort to at least pick the better option. I actually logged in to my tracking system. I took the first step toward getting my healthy lifestyle back on track, and it felt amazing! I have also learned the importance of just saying no. No, I don’t need to finish that meal. No, I don’t need dessert every day. No, I don’t need the fried option; the grilled selection will do just fine. People like to say that it is the small decisions that add up to big rewards. I am committed to creating opportunities for minor successes with the confidence that those tiny changes will reap large benefits in the (hopefully) near future. When I realized that even though I didn’t have any fresh fruit or vegetables but managed to stay in my calorie range for a few days, I was ecstatic! Yes, I could have been upset because I didn’t have any fruits or veggies, but I chose to focus on the fact that I was in control and managed to stay within an acceptable calorie range. It has been weeks since I’ve went a day eating less than 2,000 calories. I am not proud of the food selections I have made, but I made them. Now the only option I have is to learn from those mistakes and move on. Aside from my aha moment, I had a small problem with my scale. Somehow, the scale did not survive the move. When I took it out of my husband’s trunk to use earlier this week, it refused to function. I think the scale was trying to send me a message. Perhaps instead of stepping on the scale and being disappointed, I get another week or two to work on getting my habits back on track and to hopefully see the numbers read my pre-move weight. I am actually excited to go buy a new scale and resume my weekly weigh-ins. While I did not make large strides in the exercise department recently, I am happy because we found an apartment that has a gym facility on site . I will be able to resume my fitness routine and I am thrilled! I am looking forward to starting and ending my day with quick walks with my dog and enjoying the treadmill and other machines in the gym area. I feel like I am seeing the light at the end of a very dark series of unhealthy choices. I am mentally, emotionally and physically ready to be on track, and I have started taking those steps. It is amazing how much clearer the path of weight loss is when you actually have a plan to follow. I don’t necessarily mean a detailed plan such as a specific gym routine or an itemized diet plan . Rather, the plan for me is to track my food, start with a simple exercise such as walking leading into running and to continue making the better choice. After decades of dieting only to gain it back, two That’s Fit readers have decided to finally rethink their relationship with food and exercise over the next year to move toward a lifetime of fulfilling, healthy living. Come by every week as Ashley and Lee share their successes and challenges as they tip the scale. While Ashley is eating healthier, Lee has resolved to ditch diet soda. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Making the Better Choice

Baby Steps Helped Erica Shed 80 Pounds

Filed under: Motivation , Success Stories Erica Before Name: Erica Danielle Smith Age: 23 Height: 5 feet, 4 inches Before Weight: 211 pounds How I Gained It: I had a lot of very bad habits. I was a fairly active kid, but by the time I got to high school, I did pretty much no physical activity. I didn’t play any sports or really leave the house much, and exercise was limited to opening the cupboard and reaching for a Little Debbie snack . My eating habits were pathetic — I ate mostly ramen noodles, fried foods, snack cakes and Pop-Tarts. Most of my diet consisted of prepackaged junk, and the school lunches were pretty terrible too, with items like buttery macaroni and cheese , greasy pepperoni pizza and fried chicken. It seemed like everything was dripping with oil. Almost everything I ate was full of salt , sugar or fat . With my combination of terrible eating habits and the exercise routine of a snail, it was impossible to not gain weight. Fruits and vegetables were a foreign language to me. Breaking Point: Kids in high school can be very mean, and I was tired of being the fat kid. I was tired of being picked on. I didn’t date much, and I didn’t have many friends. I wanted to feel “normal.” At 15, most of the girls I knew were starting to take an interest in fashion. I wasn’t able to do that, weighing 211 pounds, because I was a size 18 and the popular stores didn’t make clothes in my size. I also could feel my health deteriorating. Moderate exercise was too hard to handle since I was out of breath all the time. I felt like a prisoner in my own body. I knew if I didn’t do something to change my weight, those extra pounds were going to cause permanent health problems. How I Lost It: I don’t believe in diets ; I believe in lifestyle changes. I lost weight through many small steps, and the biggest change was to my eating habits. I’m a foodie; I really enjoy eating, and I love trying new foods and recipes, so this really helped with my weight loss. I started these changes very slowly, first by switching from white bread and pasta to whole-grain, high- fiber products, and I got into the habit of eating several small meals a day. This helps me feel full throughout the day and keeps me from feeling tired. I incorporate at least one serving of fruits or veggies into every meal. Blueberries and spinach are two of my favorites. I buy low-fat salad dressings and cheeses, but I usually stay away from “fat-free” dressings and cheese, because a lot of fat-free things taste like plastic or cardboard and there are a lot of good alternatives that still taste amazing. Going to the grocery store is fun for me because there are always new things to try. Eating the same thing over and over can be so frustrating when trying to eat healthy, so incorporating new flavors and textures into foods really helped me to not get burnt out on any one particular food. I love to bake, but now I bake with applesauce instead of oil. My friends and family have been extremely supportive. They like when I cook for them, and it helps me stay on track knowing that other people enjoy what I cook. Erica Now Another big lifestyle change is my exercise habits. Admittedly, I’m a lazy person. I hate breaking a sweat, but I started out very slow, just by going on a walk or a bike ride on nice days, and I found that just that small amount of physical activity made a huge difference. It also motivated me to push myself a little harder. Eventually, I got a gym membership, and I actually like going now. Each time I go (about three times a week), I do at least 30 minutes on the treadmill (walking at an incline) or the elliptical (with a higher resistance level). The gym has a lot of different equipment pieces, so I don’t get bored. I’m also fortunate to live within walking distance of many things in my city, so on nice days I walk to do errands instead of driving. Losing weight was actually not as difficult as I imagined it would be. After realizing how simple most of my lifestyle changes have been, I actually feel kind of dumb for putting the weight on in the first place. I don’t feel I have made any extreme changes, just baby steps. Keeping the weight off is sometimes a challenge, especially when I get cravings for junk food, but I have learned ways to treat myself without going overboard. If I’m craving ice cream, I can order a small size, or I can share with a friend. If I’m craving a burger, I don’t have to get a bacon triple cheeseburger combo meal with a large order of fries and a large 500-calorie soda — I can just eat a single junior hamburger. I like treating myself, now that I have figured out how to do that in moderation. Portion control is very important. Looking at before and after photos of me is a huge motivator. I don’t ever want to look or feel like that again. I am so much happier now with myself. Another nice bonus of losing weight is that I am now a size six, which means shopping is one of my favorite things to do. I rewarded myself with food for way too long. Now I can reward myself by buying a pretty size-six dress and actually fitting into it! After Weight: 135 pounds After maintaining her weight loss for four years, Erica was ecstatic to go shopping for one dress in particular — her wedding gown. She’ll say “I do” at the end of this month. Erica’s not the only one who doesn’t believe in diets — find out how Cammy shed 100 pounds by focusing on getting healthy instead of getting skinny . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Baby Steps Helped Erica Shed 80 Pounds

Exercise Reduces Acid Reflux

If you’ve suffered from chronic heartburn, you probably already know that heartburn can be a trigger. But, avoiding exercise to prevent heartburn symptoms isn’t in anyone’s best interest. Exercise isn’t just important to cardiovascular health, it can also help you lose weight. Being overweight is an important risk factor in acid reflux, and losing weight can help reduce your symptoms. Continue reading…

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Exercise Reduces Acid Reflux

Jogging Always Ends in a Stitch: Help? [Forum]

i started trying to lose weight when i was 20, 91kgs and 172cm. I lost 20 kilos in 6 months but for the past 6 months haven’t been able to lose anymore weight so now im 21 and 71kg but i want to go back to a size 8. im still doing everything the same, same gym routine, still eating healthy in the past few months i’ve even stopped drinking alcohol to see if it helps…it hasn’t a typical day consists of around 1000-1500 calories and 2 hours at the gym but also i can’t jog or run and i don’t know why, theres nothing physically wrong with me but every time i try i end up with a stitch, i stretch before hand, and have tried not eating and eating a small meal before the gym please help!

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Jogging Always Ends in a Stitch: Help? [Forum]

How Can I Overcome My Chocolate Addiction? [Forum]

I am trying to lose weight but the thing is I am a chocolate addict. I cant seem to stop myself from having one. It has been my snacks. Its like if I don’t have chocs I feel like I’m going to faint in doing my workout routine. Is there any solution to this? Like if you wanna quit smoking you get a gum and for coffee you have tea.

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How Can I Overcome My Chocolate Addiction? [Forum]

I’ve Cut My Calories to 1,000 Per Day [Forum]

I am trying to lose weight. I have cut down to only 1,000 calories a day and I walk 5 miles a day. Will this help me lose weight?

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I’ve Cut My Calories to 1,000 Per Day [Forum]

Childhood Obesity: Britain Outpacing the US

England may not be able to beat the US in soccer, but they are trending towards leaving them in the dust when it comes to overweight kids. Ditto for Spain and Italy. Researchers discovered that British children were spending double the amount on candy compared to their counterparts on the other side of the pond - $570 USD a year on average - about 850 Mars bars! In comparison, US children were “only” spending about $230. Continue reading…

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Childhood Obesity: Britain Outpacing the US

Which Tea Works for Weight Loss? [Forum]

Hi Guys! I am trying to lose weight, currently I weigh 170lbs. I discovered from a friend that tea actually makes your metabolism faster but there’s a lot of tea out there and they come in different colors as well — green tea, red tea. I’m really confused which one works. Is there anyone who has tried tea for weight loss, and may be able to help me figure this one out?

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Which Tea Works for Weight Loss? [Forum]

The Worst Diet Advice From the Movies

Watching a lot of movies demands suspension of disbelief, and that’s definitely true for this crop of movie quotes that harbor bad diet advice. Whether it’s making light of eating disorders, general insensitivity, or atrocious food tips, these bits of dialogue may make you laugh, but they won’t help you lose weight. Note: FitSugar does not approve any of the following advice, so don’t go thinking that an all-sugar diet is going to make you look like Mira Sorvino. View Slideshow ›

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The Worst Diet Advice From the Movies

PCOS and Insulin Resistance [Forum]

I have recently been diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance. I need some tips on what to eat to help me lose weight. I am not too good with calculating calories and neither am I good a looking at food by grams e.g. have 7gms of carbs with 8gms of protein. I would like something simplistic, in easy to measure portions. I also would like some positive motivation. On the web I find mostly depressing stories about women with pcos and insulin resistance. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks xoxo

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PCOS and Insulin Resistance [Forum]

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